Welcome to the Block, Gutenberg

Gutenberg — we’re going to get along, I promise! But there are days when I wonder if I can keep that promise.

WordPress is
changing the post and page interface.
Coming soon, there will be a system of BLOCKS for parts of your content.
Blocks can contain each contain a different kind of content including titles,
text, images, blockquotes (renamed pullquotes), lists and more.

Farewell, Plugins! Welcome, Gutenberg

One major advantage
that blocks bring will be the need for fewer plugins. I’ve always opted for only essential plugins,
but there are a few that I particularly love which can have my plugin list
growing longer than I feel is wise. Plugins have always been attractive to
hackers, spammers and other mischief makers. Having a system that eliminates
the need for some or many of them works for me.

I have to feel a
little sad for the tech savvy people who develop plugins though. I can see them
as a major training ground. Plus various developers have gone on to create a
‘Pro’ version of their work for which they can charge. Profitability in their skill is going to
become more stressful with lower demand.

Gutenberg Will Be Easier For Newbies

The new BLOCK system
coming through at WordPress is going to be easier for new users. Older ‘mossbacks’ may not resist the change
in the platform (called editor, but so much more). Those changes will still
lurch and stumble as longtime users get used to the system.

These are not your
mama’s drop and drag blocks. There is a solid line up. You can move them up or
down, but I haven’t been able to split the view to get horizontal blocks.

I am comfortable
working with the HTML view of the blocks.
I found that I can still put
items in places which I choose. Don’t worry — If you go strictly by the blocks and the
visual editor, you will still have a decent post both for readers and for SEO.

Gutenberg Plugins and Trials

My favorite SEO plugin, YOAST SEO, has been ‘training’ writers to use headlines (?) to note changes in thought and give readers a chance to keep up. Breaks in readers’ view work nicely both for eyes and for attention, especially on smaller devices. I’ve been thinking ‘headings’, shorter paragraphs and sentences — the blocks make all kinds of sense.

Upon recommendation
from the SEO guru, YOAST, I tried a beta plugin for Gutenberg back in
April. Updates for that plugin along
with familiarity have helped me appreciate the Block System. In late August, new WordPress updates offered
users a chance to install Gutenberg.
That ‘trial version’ works even better than the plug-in. Late adopters will surely benefit from their
delay. They won’t have been fighting a plugin with barely enough tools to get
the point across.

While
I am still wrapping my head around the next move, I am not dreading the
encounter of putting up a post using Gutenberg.
I will get used to it and find that I like it. The people who have been
involved with Gutenberg development as well as those who have observed have
discussed at length the reasoning for using this platform. Other popular CMS
platforms such as Drupal are looking at using the block system